Bonds of Nakama
by TeamValisari
Summary: The ninja world will soon be shaken by a shadowy menace that threatens to destroy the ninja Are the Bonds of Nakama enough to hold the Konoha shinobi together as the ninja world faces its biggest perils ever? (Adventure/Romance)
1. Shisui's Team

**Hey thanks for checking out Bonds of Nakama! Just a quick foreword, this is an AU Naruto Adventure/Romance, meaning there will be pairings later on. Anyways, please enjoy!**

* * *

Hatake Kakashi strolled leisurely down the dimly-lit streets of Konoha. He'd received an urgent message from a nakama* earlier that day and he'd gotten a little sidetracked, a usual occurrence. Spotting his destination he took one quick breath of air before pushing through the doors of one of Konoha's most popular shinobi bars.

Upon entering, Kakashi saw many familiar faces were scattered here and there. He waved at them and they exchanged short greetings as he made his way to the person he was here to meet, who was sitting at the bar. Kakashi's raven-haired friend sat at the bar with a shot before him, which he quickly gulped down before tapping the table in front of him, requesting another.

As Kakashi edged closer, he saw that his nakama had partaken of at least seven shots thus far, making the jounin* feel slightly guilty for his prolonged absence. Taking a seat next to his friend, Kakashi placed a hand on the younger jounin's shoulder, letting him become aware of Kakashi's presence. Upon seeing Kakashi, the young man scowled as he took back another shot.

"What took you so long?" The young man asked as he waved the bartender down and tapped his finger on the table, requesting yet another drink. Kakashi was about to answer but the young man beat him to it. "Wait-wait-wait. Let me guess. A black cat crossed your path, right? No-no, you had to help an old lady with some chores perhaps?"

"Close. I broke three mirrors on my way here and bac-"

"Oh shut up!" The young man cut Kakashi off. "You never change do you?"

"What is it that's so urgent Shisui-san?"

"That Hokage of ours he… he…he wants me to be a jounin instructor, rather he's forcing me. I met the kids today." Shisui sat mouth agape as he watched one of the men he most respected burst into a fit of uncontrollable laughter, which was a shock to all present who knew the man.

"That's hilarious~! You'd never catch me mentoring some snot nosed brats." Kakashi said desperately trying to keep his breath.

"Kakashi this is serious!" Shisui pleaded. "What am I supposed to do? You're the master of failing teams, how do you do it?" Kakashi grabbed his stomach in an effort to calm himself. Once he contained his usual composure he spoke.

"That's simple. I used the bell test." Shisui hung his head to the side in a questioning look. Kakashi took the hint and elaborated. "Take your new team to a training ground, and make it a test of sorts. You'll need two bells, two containers of food, and a timer. Start early and set the timer till noon, the team has until that time to get the two bells from you." Shisui was clearly missing the point, but from the look he assumed Kakashi had under his mask, he could tell he was pleased with the system he'd set up for himself.

"So what's the point of this little exercise?" Shisui couldn't help but find he was getting more and more interested.

"It's a team building exercise. You tell the genin that they have to get the bells before the timer goes off or they go back to the academy." Shisui now fully grasped the idea of the exercise.

"So, in a nutshell, making them believe that one of them will return to the academy turns them against each other, when in reality the only way for them to even come close to getting a bell would be to work together. That's brilliant." Shisui sat for a bit pondering every possible outcome of the test before asking one final question. "Kakashi-san, what if they_do_ get the bell?"

Kakashi smirked under his mask, before responding.

"Shisui, no one ever gets the bell."

* * *

Darake Jio and Ittou Kenji were both breathing heavily as sweat poured down their faces. "I think we should call it a day." Kenji said through deep breaths. Kenji had messy black hair and emerald green eyes. He wore his newly acquired forehead protector on his arm.

Jio had mid-length spiky white hair, indigo eyes, and wore his forehead protector properly on his head.

"Agreed. You're new technique is coming along nicely." Jio replied.

"Thanks." Kenji replied as he sheathed his sword on his back. "What do you say we go grab some ramen for lunch?"

"Thanks but I can't. I promised Suzuna I'd meet her at Yakiniku." Kenji just nodded and waved as Jio headed back into the city. Kenji began slowly walking towards Ichiraku Ramen, his favorite ramen place in town. By the time he reached the street where Ichiraku was located he felt his stomach grumbling. He knew the ramen would be satisfying. Suddenly his new sensei, Shisui Uchiha appeared before him.

Shisui had mid-length spiky hair, wore a black shirt underneath a gray flak jacket with the Uchiha symbol on the back, and black pants.

Kenji jumped slightly. He'd only met him once, but he'd heard amazing stories from his uncle about his young sensei.

"Shisui-sensei. What's going on?"

"Tonight exactly midnight we're training at training ground three. Don't be late." Shisui said coolly. An instant later, he had flickered away. _I guess I should eat fast and go get some rest._ Kenji thought. He walked down to Ichiraku and saw that another of their usuals was already sitting at the bar. The young blonde boy wore a white hoodie with a green stripe running down the sleeve on either side, with white pants of the same fashion with green stripes on the sides of the legs.

He often encountered the boy here, and the two had become quite good friends. "Yo, Naruto!" Kenji said, taking a seat next to him. "Check out what I got!" He pointed towards the forehead protector on his right arm.

Naruto seemed slightly shocked. "You graduated from the ninja academy!? No way! I'm graduating next year!" A dumbstruck look crossed Kenji's face.

"No way!" He laughed. "I can't believe we never knew until now." Naruto laughed as well and patted him on the back.

"Congratulations Kenji! Your bowl's on me, I insist!" Rather than argue Kenji just thanked him and the two continued chatting away before Kenji said his goodbye and headed home to rest. He reached his home in about five minutes and entered. It was a small single-room house, with a small kitchen, but Kenji liked it. It was paid for by his uncle who lived down the block and was a very skilled blacksmith. It was he who had made the sword Kenji used, and given it to him just a few weeks ago as an early graduation present.

He flopped down in his bed in the corner and set the timer on his nightstand so he would wake up at around eleven thirty. He awkwardly removed his sword sheath from his back, kissing it before propping it up against his nightstand. He'd been thinking of a name for weeks, and now that he finally knew his sword better, he'd decided.

"Rest well, Ainami*." He said, before drifting off to sleep.

* * *

Jio breathed in the refreshing night air as he neared his destination. He had had a pretty intense sparring session with Kenji earlier, and all the aromas of great smelling food were starting to get to him.

"Hey there nakama." The voice was soft and sweet and accompanied by a soft giggle. Jio smirked to himself as he raised his eyes to rooftops where, arguably, the most beautiful blue eyed girl in the village smiling down at him.

"Senju Suzana, you're looking stunning as ever." Jio said coolly.

"Why thank you sir." The young woman said pushing a strand of chocolate brown hair from her eyes. Suzana leapt down from her position on the roof and stood face to face with her teammate and friend. Jio and Suzana had always had a close relationship, spanning all the way back to their beginning academy days. Jio's clan wasn't nearly on the same prestige level as that of the mighty Senju, but his family's complex was just down the way, so the two would often walk together to the academy, and on occasion train together.

Upon landing on the ground, the young woman pulled her hair out of its usual ponytail, nonchalantly, realizing that it was looking messy.

"I'll fix it later." She said. She inspected her friend more closely and saw his arm was slightly burned. "You've been training?"

"Yeah. Kenji wanted to work on his kenjutsu*. He's coming along surprisingly well."

"You guys didn't feel like inviting me huh?" She said with a slight pout.

"Oh come on Suzuna, you know how it is. We were bro-ing out." Jio replied defensively. Suddenly a flicker before them revealed their jounin sensei Shisui Uchiha.

"Sensei?" Suzuna said, apparently shocked.

"Yo~!" He smiled widely. "Came by to let you guys know that tonight at exactly midnight at training ground three, we'll be having a special training exercise. Don't be late." As quickly as he'd appeared, he disappeared.

"That's strange." Jio said. Suzuna nodded in agreement. "I hate to cut our lunch meeting short, I'm gonna need some serious rest before another training exercise. So I'll see you tonight, Suzuna." She waved goodbye as the two of them went their separate ways.

* * *

Shisui Uchiha titled back the bottle of sake he'd been drinking, taking a large gulp.  
He heard the voices of his genin team approaching and sighed deeply. He tiled back his bottle to finish off whatever was left, only to find that it was empty.

"Shit." He threw the bottle over his head and stood to his feet. "It barely tickles anymore." He looked over to the timer and two containers of food that Kakashi had said he would need, and realized he had no idea what the hell they were for. He decided to brush it off and continue anyways. When his team stood before him he began explaining their training exercise. "The point of this exercise is to get these bells from me. The two of you who do, will become my team, and the other one will be sent back to the academy."

The genin gasped and all exchanged looks. "Only…two of us?" Suzuna asked. Shisui only nodded in response.

"I see. No hard feelings, right guys?" Jio and Suzuna both smirked and nodded.

"Good luck." Jio said.

"Well now that everyone's clear. Let's get started shall we?" Shisui yawned slightly before saying, "Begin~!"

* * *

**Thank you everyone for reading TeamValisari's AU Naruto fanfiction. Thanks for reading guys, we know it starts a bit slow, but we promise it will pick up and heat up soon. **

**Terminology: (We've been told these are obvious, but hey! Just in case.)**

***Nakama – Nakama is like the American version of saying "he's like a brother to me." More than just your friend, someone you would sacrifice yourself for.**

***Ainami – Violet Wave**

***Kenjutsu – Sword Techniques**

**Please review!**


	2. The Bell Test

"Begin~!" Shisui said. Much to Shisui's surprise, instead of scattering and trying a surprise attack as he'd suspected. His three genin started a very logical debate.

"Not to be rude, but our teamwork isn't polished enough to try working together." Jio said, "I don't want us stepping on each other's toes. Let's take turns going at him." Shisui was in awe. While they were slightly missing the point that they were supposed to work together, they definitely weren't falling apart at the seams as Kakashi had suggested they would.

"Agreed." Kenji said, "Who goes first?"

"We could settle it with rock-paper-scissors." Suzuna suggested, "Odd man out goes first?" Jio shrugged and nodded in agreement. The three of them gathered in a small circle and began.

"Rock! Paper! Scissors!" They chanted in unison. Suzuna and Kenji had thrown rock, Jio paper.

"Dammit!" Kenji yelled flustered. "I wanted to be first." Suzuna patted him on the back and ushered him over towards three adjacent wooden posts and they sat atop them. "Jio!" Kenji yelled. "Don't go easy on him."

Jio smirked and threw a thumb-up into the air. He reached into his weapons holster and drew a single kunai knife. He put the blade to his wrist and sliced down about six inches. Shisui gasped quietly in shock. _Is this kid…from that clan!?_ He thought to himself. _How did I miss this when I met them? Then again…I __**was**__ kind of tipsy._

Jio repeated the act on his other arm and returned his kunai to his holster. "Here I come, Shisui-sensei!" The blood on his arms formed into two curved, scythe-like blades.

_The Darake clan,_ Shisui thought to himself, _an infamous shinobi clan, for their bloodline limit Kesshou Hakkei*._ Shisui drew a kunai to counter the blades and watched as Jio charged towards him. He swung his arms in a fluid set of motions, all aiming at the central location of the bells. _He plans to cut the strings and retrieve the fallen bell as I block. You'll have to do better than that, Jio._

Jio's bout of swipes continued frantically, only for each attempt to be dodged or blocked by Shisui. Jio swung down quickly, aiming for the bell string, but Shisui saw it coming and began stepping back.

In an instant the blade on Jio's other arm shrunk, and the attacking blade increased in length. _Nice timing._ Shisui commended the boy in his mind. Albeit the strategic attack Shisui flickered away and was behind the boy before he knew it. Jio gasped in astonishment at his sensei's speed. He turned around and saw Shisui nonchalantly standing with a slight smirk on his lips.

"This is going to be harder than I thought." Jio said.

"Glad I'm not disappointing you." Shisui said. Jio charged in again with a swipe of his blood scythe, Shisui stopped him dead in his tracks by blocking with his kunai. Jio quickly brought his other arm in for a pincer attack. Shisui, amazingly, did the splits and crouched over as the second attack went right over his head. He swung one of his legs around, tripping Jio, who landed face first on the ground, as Shisui sprang back to erect.

"Son of a b-" Jio stopped himself before finishing. Suzuna hated that word. He staggered back to his feet and slowly regained his composure.

"The importance of flexibility can never be overstated." Shisui said. It was an important lesson. Having full control of one's body was essential for a shinobi.

"Save the lectures for when I officially become your student." Jio said confidently. Shisui hadn't even noticed that he had subconsciously begun lecturing Jio as if he was already his pupil. He smirked to himself.

Jio wasn't charging in as he had previously been. He seemed to be planning something a bit more strategic, since he'd clearly realized brute force wasn't going to get him anywhere. Albeit him being smart enough to strategize, it didn't seem to be his strong suit. He was standing completely still with his hand to his chin in thought.

"Kenji!" He yelled, "Give it a shot. I need time to think." _He...he's an idiot?_

Kenji leaped up in an instant with pure joy, and let out a loud excited shout.

"Sweet! It's my turn." He drew Ainami from its sheath and held it straight up across his center. "Ainami. It's your time to shine." _Literally._ He closed his eyes, and he took a deep breath before opening them again. "Here it comes." He aimed his sword out to the side as if for a sweeping attack and stood completely still.

"You're gonna love this." Jio told Suzuna over at the stakes, a wild smile across his face. Ainami began glowing a brilliant violet at the blade's base, which quickly spread across the whole blade. Even Shisui seemed perplexed. _No way…that's… purple chakra!? I see. Ainami…violet wave._

"**Kenjutsu: Tengoku Heki~! (Sword Style: Heaven Piercer)**" He swung his sword horizontally and a crescent-shaped wave of chakra shot directly towards Shisui. _It's powerful!_ He jumped high into the air and avoided the attack. Below him, he saw Kenji's attack make explosive contact with a tree. With a loud crash, wood chips and dust flew out in all directions. _What a magnificent technique!_

Kenji quickly drew two kunai and threw them both at precisely the same time, one aimed directly at the bell strings, and the other at his chest. Shisui drew another kunai and threw them perfectly to deflect Kenji's own. He landed gracefully and saw Kenji now charging for him. Kenji swung several times, but Shisui backed up enough each time to dodge every blow. The young genin turned his body and threw a roundhouse kick towards Shisui's face, but he easily caught it, throwing Kenji several yards back in a counter.

He hit the floor and rolled several feet before stopping. "Damn you're good." He said, springing back to his feet. _He's capable of producing so much chakra that he can visibly expel it from his body_._ And the color…_ He turned to look at the tree Kenji's Tengoku Heki had hit. It had taken out enough of the trunk to cause the tree to fall. It was now leaning against another tree.

While Shisui was evaluating Kenji's attack, Kenji was also deep in thought. _Shisui-sensei is good. He's anticipating all of my attacks without even using his sharingan. It was the same with Jio. Are we really that predictable? I won't accept that!_ Kenji dashed quickly into a nearby tree, disappearing for a moment from sight. He dropped down instantly and sprang forward for the bells. _Nice try Kenji._ Shisui thought. Shisui brought a hand to catch Kenji's own, but when he should've made contact, Kenji instead disappeared. _It was a clone!_ From behind Kenji was less than a second away from grabbing a bell.

His finger touched the bell, but Shisui flickered back so fast Kenji fell down.

"Crap." He said. "I really thought I had it that time."

"Kenji-!' Suzuna called sweetly, "Can I have a try~?" She had both hands on her cheeks in a much exaggerated 'cute' way. Kenji just chuckled before sighing.

"Knock yourself out." He threw Ainami up into the air spinning. He ducked down slightly and it fell perfectly into its sheath on his back. _Nailed it!_ He applauded himself. Shisui seemed slightly impressed by the genin's dexterity. He walked back over to the logs and took Suzuna's spot on the middle log.

Jio slightly leaned in and spoke very quietly. "How long did that one take you to learn?"

Kenji also leaned in slightly to answer. "Like, three weeks." The two smiled and bumped fists before reverting their sight to the battlefield.

Suzuna ran to the nearby stream and jumped on top of the water. Forming her hands into the tiger hand seal, she said, "**Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu! (Water Clone Technique)**" Two mounds of water rose up beside her, forming into perfect clones of her. _Two water clones at her age._ Shisui thought, _as expected from the Senju clan_.

Suzuna and her two clones spread out and all three charged at Shisui, who took on a defensive pose. The three circled him, all an equal distance apart. First the one from the rear charged in. Hearing this, Shisui turned to block. The clone that was now at his back charged in next. The first clone threw a punch which Shisui easily caught, meanwhile behind him, the other clone jumped in for a spinning kick. Shisui quickly grabbed the first clone's arm with his free arm, and flipped it over him, smashing it into the other, and both dispersed.

The real Suzuna, who's been approaching from the side, was lunging for the bells. Shisui sidestepped and Suzuna stumbled slightly, before regaining composure.

Suzuna formed a chain of hand seals as she ran again towards Shisui. _**Suiton: Mizuame Nabara no Jutsu! (Water Style: Syrup Trap)**_A steady stream of water flew from Suzuna's mouth quickly at Shisui's feet. The resulting puddle of sticky liquid formed all around Shisui's shoes. He didn't even try to dodge. Shisui attempted to move his legs but found he was unable to lift them from the ground.

"She stuck him!?" Kenji and Jio said surprised. Channeling the chakra to her feet, she ran right over the sticky water jutsu and circled Shisui. _If Shisui-sensei can't move, I can definitely get the bells._ Once behind him she went straight for the bells.

"What an interesting technique." Shisui said calmly, examining his feet, trying to pull them out a few more times. "Looks like I'm completely stuck." Suzuna approached quickly from behind, sticking her hand to grab the bells once more. Much to her surprise, Shisui jumped up out of the sticky water. He pivoted his body quickly and gently placed his foot on her forehead, pushing her down.

Suzuna screamed as her back made contact with the sticky substance on the ground. Her arms were positioned above her head in a rather comical position. While Jio and Kenji were laughing hysterically, Suzuna was getting a lecture from Shisui.

"Every technique has blind spots; you'd be wise to anticipate them." Suzuna sighed and pouted slightly. She really thought she'd had a shot.

Shisui walked on the sticky water and cut his shoes out with a kunai, putting them both back on before returning to the uncovered ground.

"We clearly don't stand a chance alone." Kenji said, jumping to his feet and drawing Ainami. "What do you say we give it a go together?"

"Spoken like a true dead-last." Jio said, jumping to Kenji's side.

"I was not dead-last~!" Kenji said angrily. "I beat that one guy!"

"What about me~!?" Suzuna yelled.

"I don't wanna go out of my way to get you out of there." Jio said jokingly, while Kenji jumped over and skillfully sliced her free with Ainami.

"All together?" Jio asked smiling.

"All together." Suzuna and Kenji replied simultaneously.

"Follow my lead." Suzuna said as she pulled a scroll from her holster and dropped it to the ground. She formed a hand seal and water began flowing out from the scroll. _Very strategic,_Shisui thought, _she carries a water scroll so she can save chakra on producing techniques._ "**Suiton: Kaishou no Jutsu! (Water Style: Tidal Wave)**" The water formed into a large wave heading straight for Shisui.

Shisui quickly formed his own hand seals and performed a technique to save him. _This will be the first technique I've uses._ "**Doton: Sane Chuuseki no Jutsu! (Earth Style: Stone Pillar)**" A pillar of earth rose from beneath his feet and rose up high enough to clear the top of the oncoming wave. _Cleared it._ Suddenly a Tengoku Heki smashed into the pillar and shattered it instantly. _Shit._

He was falling to the ground practically helpless when from below Jio shot up, one blood scythe on his arm. He swiped swiftly and accurately, cutting the bell strings. _No way!_

Suzuna and Kenji instantly jumped into the air towards the bell with victorious smiles on both of their faces. _Hate to burst their bubbles._ He drew two kunai with his hand and threw them both towards the bells. Fractions of a second before Suzuna and Kenji could grab them, the kunai connected with them and carried them to a tree, as soon as he touched ground he ran at top speed, appearing to disappear to the genin, and retrieved the two bells.

"Shisui-sensei is too awesome." Suzuna said in awe.

"If we had jumped a second sooner…" Kenji lamented.

"You still wouldn't have gotten them. Shisui-sensei timed those kunai perfectly. He could have easily thrown them faster or slower." Jio said matter-of-factly.

"You think I don't know that!?" Kenji yelled, and the three of them all began a petty argument. _I must admit they've surprised me. I never thought I'd say this…but I think I'll pass them…so to begin, I'll teach them a lesson._ He borrowed the technique of his friend Kakashi and tunneled underground.

He moved over to where the three genin were and reached up grabbing two of their legs and pulling them under, then quickly grabbing the third, and before they knew it, they were neck deep in the ground, while Shisui stood above them, wiping dirt off of his hands.

"What the hell just happened!?" Jio yelled.

"Take this as one of your many lessons. A quick temper will make a fool of you soon enough. You don't have time to argue on the field of battle."

"Many lessons?" Kenji said hopefully.

"Yes. I'm taking you all on as my students." Shisui replied with a smile. The three of them let out several cries of joy. After they'd calmed, Suzuna, with a confused look, spoke.

"But Sensei, none of us got a bell."

"That wasn't the point of this exercise. The point was to overcome your differences and work together. You've all shown exceptional talent, and I can't deny you're growing on me a little. Congratulations Team One!" The three genin smirked to one another. Shisui quickly removed from the ground and gave them a thumb up.

"Thank you Sensei." Suzuna said, "We won't let you down." Kenji and Jio smiled and nodded.

"Now all of you go get some rest. We'll meet at nine am to begin missions. Rest well my students." And with that, Shisui disappeared. The three students bid each other farewell and hurried home to rest, each excited for the next day.

* * *

**Terms You'll Need to Know (Just one this Time):**

**Kesshou Hakkei - Blood power.**

**Anyways, thanks for reading, and hope you enjoyed this chapter~! Please leave reviews and let us know what you think!**


	3. Training Commences!

"Target is incoming." Jio's voice came through Kenji's earpiece. "I repeat. Target is incoming. Over." Kenji smirked to himself as he surveyed the surroundings. The forest was quiet and dark, and Kenji's thoughts were occupied by the sheer thrill of the ongoing hunt. _This one is all me!_ He thought to himself as his target came into view.

"I'm on it!" Kenji exclaimed rushing from his position to purse his target.

"Kenji-kun, the point of a surprise attack is to conceal your position until the last possible moment, not to run out all crazy and scare the crap out of the poor kitty…" Suzuna said. Kenji could visualize the disappointment on her face just from the sound of her voice, but there was no time to worry about Suzuna when he had the chance to end the mission.

The cat had heard Kenji's cry and rushed off in the opposite direction trying to elude his pursuer, but Kenji was too quick, and closed in on the unsuspecting feline. What the cat possessed that Kenji didn't was a better grasp of the environment and a much higher level of agility, which it displayed in quick change of direction movements that Kenji couldn't hope to follow. In his attempt, he wound up tripping on his own feet and rolling into a bush. He cursed and pounded the ground. He stood up and brushed the dirt from his body, scowling as the cat halted for the briefest of moments as if it were mocking him.

"Jio the cat's coming in on your position so take care of this once and for all. Over." Jio had seen the event with Kenji and his fall, and his suppressed snickers were coming through the earpiece. _Kenji really is something else. _Jio thought to himself as the feline treaded/ ever closer.

"The target is in sights. I'm engaging. Over." Jio said quietly.

"Good luck Jio." Suzuna said. Jio stalked the cat slowly from his position, making only the tiniest of movements towards the animal. He cursed to himself when his foot crunched on a tree branch. The cat's eye frantically shot in Jio's direction and without a thought, it charged off.

Jio shot off after the cat and gained ground quickly. He was now just a few feet from the feline, a smirk clear on his face. The cat, though barely a few feet away, ran hard and zigzagged as much as possible to avoid capture. Jio was almost caught up when the feline headed towards some large brush in the distance.

"Suzuna, the cat's almost to your area. I'm gonna try and lead him there." Jio said as the cat jumped into the brush. _You're not gonna lose me like that you stupid cat._ Jio rapidly rushed into the brush after the cat, but he immediately regretted it, as he found himself tumbling down an incredibly steep hill straight towards a river.

"YOU BITCH!" Were the last words his nakama heard before his com went quite.

"Jio are you okay?" Suzuna called but she got no response. "Because whether you are or aren't, I'm gonna kill you later!"

"What's that about?" Kenji asked confused.

"I hate profanities." Suzuna answered.

"Stay focused on the task at hand." Shisui said. Taking his sensei's advice, Kenji began looking around until he saw the tricky little feline.

"Target's in sight. I'm gonna chase him towards you Suzuna-chan." Kenji said standing to face the feline once again. "Hello kitty." He walked gently towards the cat. "You won't be escaping again." Kenji shot after the cat, being sure to lead the creature in Suzuna's direction. He decided this time to stick to throwing shuriken into the ground in order to lead the cat where he wished.

"Get ready, I'm gonna fall bac-" As if on cue, Suzuna fell from the canopy directly in front of the cat and Kenji, reaching for the startled creature. "Suzuna-chan!" Kenji yelled trying to avoid his teammate. Suzuna shrieked, missing the cat because she turned her eyes to Kenji. The cat bolted off just as Kenji and Suzuna collided, causing the two to roll several feet on the ground.

Kenji grunted as the dust settled around him. The crash should have been avoided, but he would still apologize to Suzuna later. For the time being, however, he was content to lay his head on the softness he found beneath his head. _God the dirt down here smells nice._ His thought was interrupted by a poking on his head.

"Kenji-kun you're fondling my breasts with your head!" Kenji's eyes shot open and he jumped up in wide eyed terror as realization set in. _That was… I mean my head was touching…and she…and wow, those!_ Kenji could barely think straight."You're staring."

Suzuna rose to her feet and slapped Kenji across the face. The slap wasn't hard, but it did snap him back to reality as deep crimson spread across his face. If Kenji had looked closer he would have noticed the hint of red that rose on Suzuna's face as well.

"Did you guys catch that monster?" Suzuna and Kenji turned and saw Jio, dripping wet wringing out his shirt. "What happened to you two?" He asked upon seeing the two covered in dirt and leaves. Both speedily shook their heads in protest to answering as their cheeks burned red once again. "Something tells me I don't wanna know." Jio said sighing.

"Team, rendezvous, point A." Shisui's voice came through their earpiece. The three genin walked over to Shisui's designated rendezvous and saw him standing there, the cat perched on his shoulder, rubbing against him affectionately. The three genin were appalled. "That display out there was nothing short of humiliating. I can't even imagine it having gone any worse." The three genin hung their heads ashamedly. "I'll return Tora to Madam Shijimi. I need to make some preparations, so we'll meet tomorrow at the usual spot." Shisui ran off quickly, and before they knew it, he was gone.

"Hearing that from Shisui-sensei…" Suzuna said sadly, "He's right. We're all sloppy." Jio and Kenji both nodded in agreement. "Let's train hard today. Okay guys?" Suzuna smirked gloomily before waving goodbye and strolling back towards Konoha, and Jio quickly followed suit.

Suzuna and Jio would most likely be going back to their clans compounds, probably to train with some of their elder members. Unlike them, Kenji had nowhere to go, no one to train with. He decided to head back into the city to grab lunch before going to train alone.

He couldn't say for sure how Suzuna and Jio felt, but he couldn't shake the feeling that the weakest link on their team was him. Lost in his thoughts on the way to Ichiraku Ramen, time flew quickly. He was hoping Naruto was there. Their conversations had a way of relieving his mind, and he liked to think Naruto felt the same.

When he arrived unfortunately, Naruto was nowhere in sight. Teuchi, the shop owner, and his daughter Ayame welcomed Kenji warmly. He'd been coming there for years and now considered the two as family, which he was rather short on.

"The usual?" Teuchi asked, prepping a new pot.

"Yes please." He said, pulling the money from his pocket and setting it on the bar. Teuchi nodded as he began preparing a pot of miso ramen.

"Eh!?" Ayame explained, seeing the shinobi forehead protector wrapped around his arm. "You graduated!?" He'd seen her a few times in the last few weeks since joining Shisui's team, but it wasn't extremely unusual for Ayame to miss details. Kenji smiled and laughed slightly.

"Yeah a few weeks ago." He said sheepishly. Ayame stretched over the counter so fast Kenji stiffened up a little, but in just a second her arms were wrapped around his neck in an embrace. Her touch was warm. His head was almost directly in her bosom, but it didn't embarrass him the way it had with Suzuna. He felt comfortable with Ayame.

"I'm so proud of you Kenji-kun." She said kindly. He slowly relaxed his muscles and returned her embrace.

"Thank you, Ayame-neesan." Teuchi just smiled at the two as he continued cooking the ramen. She eventually released him before excusing herself to make her daily deliveries. Teuchi gave Kenji his bowl of ramen shortly after and he slowly ate it, contemplating to himself the whole time. _I have to get stronger…but how?_ He finished his ramen quickly and waved goodbye to Teuchi.

As he exited the ramen booth he saw Shisui was before him.

"Shisui-sensei, what's up?" He asked confusedly.

"I've decided from here on out I'm going to train you daily, after missions, while Jio and Suzuna are receiving lessons from their clansmen based on the reports I provided them." Kenji clenched his fists tightly in anticipation.

"Really!?" He said excitedly, "Thank you very much Shisui-sensei!" Kenji excitedly punched into the air before stopping to properly bow. "You can't know how much this means to me." It was then that he noticed Shisui had a katana strapped to his back. Was it new? Or had he just not noticed it before?

"I just hope you feel that way after the training's started." Shisui said, snapping Kenji back to reality, "Now let's hurry over to the third training ground and we'll begin." Shisui jumped up onto a nearby roof and Kenji followed suit.

They jumped from rooftop to rooftop until they reached the edge of the city, where they jumped down and ran the rest of the way to the training ground. The distance wasn't too far, but just keeping up with what he assumed was Shisui's slow run proved much more difficult than he'd anticipated. He was breathing heavier than normal, but he tried his best to contain it.

Surveying his surroundings, he noticed a sizeable pot sitting above a fire. He walked over to it and soon saw the pot was filled with boiling water. Looking over to Shisui in hope of an explanation, he saw that Shisui was removing something from his wrists. They appeared to be heavily weighted bracelets.

"Give me your wrists." Shisui said, Kenji lifted both hands into the air and Shisui began strapping the first bracelet on. The second Shisui released it Kenji's arm sunk into the ground. The impact from the weight created a small crater in the ground, and dirt and rocks flew everywhere.

"Shit!" Kenji exclaimed, as Shisui finished his other wrist, which repeated the pattern set by the first. "What the hell kind of training is this!?" Just keeping his arms in the air was a massive struggle, moving them around proved even more of a challenge. _He was wearing these on the run over here!?_

"As a swordsman, you're worthless if any average shinobi can block your blade with a kunai. You need both speed and force behind your blows in order to be a real threat. This training I've devised will help you to achieve both." He pulled a shuriken from his weapon holster and dropped it into the pot. "Retrieve the shuriken."

Kenji looked back at him wide-eyed. "What?" _Retrieve the shuriken?_ Shisui just sat down coolly next to the middle stake, leaning against it as he pulled a bottle of sake from behind it and began slowly drinking. He had clearly said all he was going to. _Speed and power…I guess when I'm fast enough I'll be able to quickly reach to the bottom and pull the shuriken out? Won't know until I try._ "Here goes nothing."

Kenji threw his arm in as fast as he could. It didn't take him long to realize what a mistake it was. Pain seared throughout his arm and he withdrew it much faster than he'd thrown it in. He cursed several times while holding his arm in pain. His fingertips to his forearms seared in pain. _Is this a pain tolerance exercise? No, no way. If I endured that my skin would start to cook. I must be missing something._

"Victory comes to he who perseveres." Shisui said.

"Don't think I'm planning on giving up just yet." Kenji said with a determined look. "Here I go again!"

* * *

"I can't do it." Suzuna said through heavy breaths. She was hunched over, her hands on her knees, and sweat dripped from her brow.

"Never say you can't." Yamato, her eldest cousin, said. "You have the capacity, just as I do. Don't sell yourself short. Try again." Suzuna nodded as she steadied her breath and stood upright. She put both of her hands in front of her and began focusing intensely.

Within her she could feel her water affinity chakra began to move. She could feel her earth affinity chakra as well, but she couldn't control it nearly as well. She forced it forward into her right hand, as the water chakra steadily flowed into her left. She began slowly brining her hands together to form the first hand seal.

As soon as her hands made contact she felt a strong jolt, as always. She slowly began mixing the two chakras into one, and unlike usual, they were cooperating. _I-it's working!_ They slowly formed together into a completely new type of energy, but she soon found that containing the life chakra was becoming harder and harder to do. She hadn't built up nearly enough when it backfired, the two chakras violently splitting. Suzuna yelled loudly in agitation, slight chakra burns now visible on her hands.

"Calm down." Yamato said, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You've come far the last few weeks."

"Not far enough." She pouted a little. Yamato only chuckled.

"No more for today." He said.

"I can still do more!" She protested. He smiled at her kindly, grabbing both of her shoulders, and crouching down to look her in the eyes.

"Rest is an important and often overlooked aspect of training." Suzuna sighed before smiling.

"I guess so." She hugged him tightly. "I don't know what I would do without you Yamato."

"Come on. Let's go grab a bite." He suggested, and she nodded. "And if you're really up to it, I'll race you. I'll only give you a twenty second head start." Suzuna only smiled before taking off.

* * *

Jio took in a breath of fresh air as blood fell from various cuts spread all over his body.

"Just feel it Jio. The chakra is still connected." Hasumi, Jio's mother, said. Jio tried to focus on his own chakra signature being emitted from his blood, hoping to pick up the link, but he found nothing. He took another deep breath as he found himself getting extremely frustrated and he tried again, still to no avail.

After a few more minutes he grunted loudly in irritation. "I don't get it Mom! This technique goes against our very nature, so why do I have to learn it?" Hasumi looked upon her son with patience in her eyes, and she answered him softly.

"Not every fight can be won with brute force alone Jio, and don't create a lie in your own mind that our clan has a lust for blood. We fight only to protect this village, our family, and our friends."

Jio sighed in defeat, knowing inside that she was right. He scoffed to himself slight and went back to his focusing technique. He concentrated on his own chakra, and then focused on feeling the matching chakra from his spilled blood. _I don't get why I can't do this…I didn't even know our clan had techniques where just the basics were this difficult, but I can't give up, if I can learn this, I can learn any technique that's thrown at me._

Still feeling no forward progress, Jio decided to change his methods and try another route. He relaxed his mind to the best of his ability, and followed suit with his body. _Baby steps._He took a seat cross legged on the ground in front of a small puddle of blood and reached his hands out over it. He closed his eyes and began searching for the link once again.

Hasumi was watching him silently, very pleased with him. _Now you get it Jio, as expected of my child. _Jio was finally starting to feel it. With his will, the puddle started to ripple slowly. Soon after, a small stream of blood floated up into the air. _I'm doing it!_ The blood promptly fell and sloshed back on the wood floor of the training dojo, but nevertheless, Jio was pleased with himself.

"So this is the true power of the Darake Clan!" Jio said excitement evident in his voice and features. "Did you see that Mom!? I did it!" Hasumi smiled and applauded her son lightly.

"I've never seen anyone adapt to this kind of chakra training so quickly." She said, "You're better than your father was when he was your age." Jio smiled at the thought of one day being as powerful a shinobi as his father, after all, it had always been a goal of his to surpass his old man.

"Mother, when can I start learning new techniques?" Jio asked, determination burning in his eyes. His mother grinned to her son as she approached him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Soon my son, but do not tell your father about our training sessions."

"Why wouldn't I tell dad?" He asked, clearly muddled.

"I just think it'll be more fun if you surprised him during the chunin exams." Hasumi replied smiling. _The chunin exams __**will**__ be coming up soon. I remember dad took me to watch the fights every time the exams were held here, and I loved every second of them. Soon I'll be participating, and with Kenji and Suzuna as my teammates, I don't have a doubt we'll advance to the final rounds._ Thinking of the chunin exams got Jio so fired up he could barely contain himself. _It's time to get even more serious!  
_

* * *

**Thanks to all of our readers for checking out chapter three of Bonds of Nakama! Hope you guys are enjoying it so far, please leave comments/feedback/etc in your reviews and tell us what you think~! Until next time! (Seriously, review!)**


	4. An Afternoon in Konoha

"You're doing excellent Kenji!" Shisui said, hovering over his student. Kenji was sweating heavily as he went. He would have responded to Shisui's compliment but he couldn't speak very well while he was vibrating this much. It hadn't taken Kenji too many sessions to realize that he could cause a break in the water if he was fast enough. His technique was simple in principle, but much more complicated in practice.

His idea was to use his finger tips to create a dent in the water, and continuously do so until the dent deepened all the way to the bottom of the pot, so he could reach the shuriken. He'd succeeded twice throughout all of his sessions, and after both successes, Shisui had switched to a noticeably larger pot, but Kenji didn't dare to complain.

He was so thrilled with his results he wanted to run around the city singing ballads to Shisui's genius, but obviously he would never willingly embarrass himself in such a way. _Come one baby, come on!_ Kenji continued drilling his hands one after another as quick as he could. His reflexes had become so fast, that he could spell his full name in the dirt in under three seconds with one finger.

He was practically half of the way through the barrel, and he could feel his arms steadily slowing down. Their training session was almost over, but Kenji wanted to get that shuriken more badly than ever before. Only a month and a half ago he had gotten burned trying to get the shuriken, now he could get to the bottom of a much deeper pot with the very tips of his fingers barely getting wet at all, but the constant speed required to maintain the deep break in the water was difficult. His muscles were aching intensely with this run.

He was almost three quarters of the way there. He yelled loudly in an attempt to distract himself from the pain, but the searing in his arms was getting worse every seconds. Three seconds later he had to withdraw, the water quickly filling in the void he had created. Sweat was pouring off his forehead, turning to steam as some dripped onto the pot.

"Well done Kenji-kun!" Shisui patted him on his shoulder. Kenji flinched slightly at Shisui's cold hand making skin contact. "At this rate you'll reach the shuriken by the end of the week, making this your shortest amount of time on one pot." Kenji smiled through his continued deep breaths.

"Thank you Sensei." He managed to blurt out. He pulled a dry rag from one of his cargos many pockets and began wiping the sweat off of his torso with it.

"I'm amazed at how far you guys have come in the last couple of months. I talked to Lord Hokage before our training session today and made a request." Kenji's eyebrows rose as he shot Shisui a questioning glance. "I told him that I believe Team One is ready to begin taking on C-rank missions." Kenji's mouth was agape. "He hasn't agreed to it quite yet. He **is** considering it, but don't get your hopes up too high." Kenji smiled widely and jumped into the air with a shout.

"Shisui-sensei you're the best!" He said excitedly. Shisui just smiled and nodded.

"Alright, alright, now go on and get out of here. Get some rest." Kenji waved before turning and walking off briskly into town. He enjoyed training, but he couldn't deny that he was happy for it to be over. Recently after his practices he'd been feeling a stroll through the city was just what he needed to relax his body and mind, but today he had things to do, so he had no time for a leisurely stroll.

He checked his wristwatch and smiled upon seeing the time. He was right on schedule. He steadily slowed his pace as he reached the end of the street. He looked left, but was surprised to see no one coming his way. He looked the other way to see if he'd possibly missed his rendezvous, but saw that his target was nowhere to be found.

He sighed deeply. _I guess I missed her._ He started walking forward to continue his errands, but heard an unmistakable laugh coming from down the street. Faster than he thought he'd ever moved before, he disappeared from the intersection and was back behind the building. _I think that's the fastest I've ever moved._ His heart was beating heavily, drowning out most other sounds. He peeked around the corner very slowly, and saw a girl with long pink hair waving goodbye to her usual companion, a blonde with a ponytail.

_I should say something to her, but what? How do I approach a girl like her?_ He was breathing almost as heavily as he had been during training. He waited a few moments and began walking gently. He felt so nervous he almost couldn't contain it. _Is my heart beating?_ Though his appearance seemed tranquil, on the inside, he was anything but. It was as if his mind was processing hundreds of thoughts all at once. _Am I shaking? Oh god I hope I'm not shaking. How close is she to me right now? Should I check? Would that be weird?_

Just then he heard a small gasp. It was hers. He could tell. She had tripped right next to him. He looked and saw a bouquet of flowers was flying through the air, and she was falling to the ground. It was all playing out before him in slow motion. _I can catch her._ He dashed towards the flower bouquet, quickly grabbing them before dashing much faster towards her and stopping her descent by wrapping an arm under her stomach. She made a very surprised sound. _And now __**that's**__ the fastest I've ever moved._ He helped her up and handed her the flower bouquet he'd caught.

"A-a…." _Dammit Kenji, say something!_ He prodded himself. "Are you okay?" _Excellent, keep this up and you'll be conversing in no time!_

"Yes." She said quietly, "Thank you." Kenji's face was beat red. Lucky for him, she was shyly looking down at her feet, so she didn't notice. _No risk, no reward._ He told himself.

"M-my name is Ittou Kenji." He said, slowly extending an arm to shake her free hand. This time he was definitely shaking, ever so slightly.

"Haruno Sakura." She said, looking up for the first time as she shook his hand. It was the best look he'd ever gotten of her. Her green eyes were so close. Looking into them, he felt like there was nothing else in the world besides the two of them. He shot his attention back to the situation quickly, realizing what a dumbass he would look like staring at her for half an hour.

"Nice to meet you, Sakura-san." He wasn't sure if his heart was pumping so much blood into his eyes that everything turned red, or if, against all odds, her cheeks were flushed.

"Nice to meet you too, Kenji-san." She said. It was then that he realized he was still holding her hand. _Shit!_ He quickly released his grip and awkwardly rubbed the back of his head.

"I should get going." He said, "Try to walk a bit slower the next time you're carrying things." _Real smooth, dumbass._ Sakura smiled and nodded.

"Goodbye, Kenji-san." She waved as she started strolling down the street. He exhaled for what felt like the first time in hours. _That was a disaster._

* * *

Darake Jio grinned inwardly to himself as his head swung back, savoring the burn in his throat as he took back another shot of apple sake. _My favorite! Dad's got me hooked on the stuff. Elixir is a pretty cool bar. _Jio continued smiling, laying his money on the counter for another shot.

Naturally, at Jio's young age, drinking was generally frowned upon, but, equipped with his knowledge of the ninja arts, Jio had the ability to take on a near perfect disguise.

"Another shot Shisui-sama?" Jio, disguised as his sensei, Uchiha Shisui, smirked to the bar tender as he quickly partook of his favorite drink.

"Those children of mine are driving me mad! I just need to wind down a bit, loosen up, and catch my breath, you know?" The man nodded his understanding as he continued with his duties. _I can't believe I'm getting away with this! I must be the best covert op shinobi in the leaf village!"_ Unfortunately for Jio, reality was about to come crashing down on him.

"Shisui-san?" Jio cocked his head and found a spiky white-haired shinobi with his hitai-ate covering his left eye and a mask covering his face from the nose down. Jio had never seen the man before but the man seemingly knew him, or more accurately, knew his sempai.

"Uhhh. Yo." Jio said smiling and giving a friendly wave. The man looked perplexed and Jio could feel the beginnings of sweat surfacing on his brow. The very nonchalant looking man walked to the seat next to Jio at the bar and perched himself on it. Jio was doing his best to avoid eye contact but he could almost feel the gaze of the man sitting beside him looking right through his disguise.

"Shisui-san you've drank quite a lot today." Kakashi said as he waved the bar tender in his direction.

"Kakashi-sama, how are you today?" The man asked, cheerfully placing a glass of gin, Kakashi's usual, in front of the elder man. Kakashi seemed to smile through his mask.

"Thank you very much, Nobu-san." He said as he took a small sip from the cup recently placed before him. "So Shisui-san, I wasn't expecting to see you here tonight. I thought you had business with Sasuke-kun this evening?" _Shit!_ Jio swallowed a lump in his throat as he tried with all his might to work through how he was going to get out of this. _Just have to act natural._

"Sasuke-san isn't feeling too well this evening, so he took the night off." Suddenly Jio felt the presence of the man shift drastically. He looked at Jio, and Jio quickly looked away. He heard Kakashi doing some sort of shuffling around, and he prayed it wasn't for a weapon. The young shinobi felt like a pool of sweat was gathering on the ground beneath him.

"Which are you?" Kakashi asked, no malice at all in his voice. "Kenji or Jio?" Jio gasped slightly.

"How did you kn-" Jio was cut off by the voice of his sensei.

"I can answer that." Jio and Kakashi turned in their seats to see Shisui standing behind them, sharingan eyes lazily searching the young impostor. "What should I make of this Jio-kun?" Shisui said grabbing the young man by the neck of his shirt and hoisting him in the air. Shisui marched towards the exit lethargically and not discreetly tossed the young genin to the dirt. "Go home Jio."

"Oh Shisui-san, what brings you here?" Kakashi asked, "As I was telling your student, I thought you were training with Sasuke-kun?"

"That was my plan yes, but I feel he needs some time to relax, so I ordered him to take day off. I'm sure he's just off training by himself though." Kakashi nodded in response. "Oh in case you were wondering where you messed up Jio. Sasuke is my kid cousin; I wouldn't call him Sasuke-**san**."

Shisui re-entered the bar, leaving the genin to his ways. Jio rose and dusted himself off, scoffing at his bad luck. _I guess that's what can happen when you don't know your character well enough. _He thought to himself. _I'll do better next time. _

He began on his way, not heading anywhere in particular, just away from the bar. The evening was still young and he wanted to have some fun, but as of now he was more thinking of getting even with his sensei for embarrassing him, or more accurately, catching him trying to get away with something he shouldn't have been doing.

He was drawing blanks on plans, losing focus on reality as he walked. This, however worked out to his advantage, as his distractions brought him into a collision with a kunoichi.

He rose from the ground and gently rubbed the tender spot on his butt before realizing who he'd collided with. In front of him sat a girl clenching her now bleeding nose. In Jio's opinion she was a very attractive young woman with deep brown hair tied in a ponytail and two upside down red triangles decorated her cheeks, Jio recognized the markings but couldn't place from where he knew them.

"I am so sorry!" Jio said, extending out his hand as fast as he could to help the girl up. She accepted and he helped her to her feet. She was keeping her head down, letting the blood flow out of her nose, so she hadn't looked up at Jio, when she did, however, her eyes widened, seemingly from fear.

"This was my fault! I'm so sorry. I should have been watching where I was going, please forgive me Shisui-sama!" The young woman bowed her head to him shyly.

Jio was a bit taken aback, clearly he was the one who had caused this accident by not paying attention. Something clicked in his head as he recollected her words. _Did she just call me Shisui-sama? _

Jio then realized that he had never undone his transformation into Shisui-sensei. _I'm still Sensei, and girls bow to him? I didn't know he was so popular._ An impish smirk appeared upon Jio's lips as the most devious of plans began its inner workings in his mind. Jio cleared his throat and delicately placed his hand below the bowing woman's chin raising her head ever so softly until her eyes were looking directly into his. He ripped off a piece of his shirt and proceeded to wipe the blood from the woman's nose, causing her cheeks to take on a deep crimson. _I've got this in the bag. _

"Sempai you don't have to-" She was cut off by Jio placing a finger to her lips and softly shushing her.

"None of that." He said smoothly, "It was my carelessness that got you hurt. At least let me do this." The young woman was tense. Jio could tell by her quaking eyes she had some feelings for his sensei. "Do you believe in destiny?" The young woman looked puzzle. The young woman nodded softly. "Good, because I think we should take advantage of moments like this." He said placing a gentle hand on the Inuzuka's cheek. Though it seemed impossible, her face reddened even further.

"Senpai, what are you saying?" She asked softly, trying to avoid his eyes as if his gaze would peer right through her. Jio leaned in closer to her ear, more-than-likely way over dramatic in execution, but she didn't say anything.

"You're so beautiful. Why don't we both meet up at that bar down the road from here later? The Elixir." The female shinobi seemed a little bit flustered as Jio took a step away from her, letting the poor girl catch a breath.

"Senpai, are you asking me out on a date?" She asked. She seemed to be in a state of shock.

"Of course I am. Wear something pretty for me okay? You're far too beautiful to be cramped in shinobi attire all day. Is thirty minutes a good time for you?" The young woman smiled widely. She truly was gorgeous, Jio noted.

"I'd love to go on a date with you." She said enthusiastically, a fact she seemed pretty embarrassed by. Jio nodded with a smile, and the young kunoichi beamed as she took off. Jio mentally patted himself on the back as he began strolling down the street once again. He was stopped, however, by the sudden applause of everyone around. Apparently they'd been watching. Jio was at a loss for words. Was Shisui some kind of celebrity?

"Shi-sui! Shi-sui! Shi-sui!" The chanting started quietly but quickly rose in volume and enthusiasm. Jio threw his arms in the air victoriously, nodding as he slapped high fives and bumped fists to other shinobi who were greeting him.

"I have to go everyone; I have a date to prepare for!" Jio said leaping away as the crowd erupted into even louder applause. _This is priceless! I have to find Suzuna and Kenji, they are not gonna want to miss this!_

* * *

Shisui and Kakashi both burst into laughter at Nobu's joke. Being a bartender, he always had some great stories and jokes to tell.

"That's a good one." Shisui said through chuckles, taking a sip of his drink. Despite being on his fourth one, he could barely feel any of the effects. _I think maybe I drink a bit too much._ He thought. He heard the front door open and looked to see none other than Hana Inuzuka.

Shisui was stunned. She wasn't in anything close to her usual shinobi attire. She was dressed much more…cute. She looked fantastic. He couldn't help but find himself blushing, which he knew Kakashi would notice. She was approaching them slowly, her head tilted slightly down shyly.

"Hello Kakashi-san, Shisui-sama." She said, respectively bowing to each.

"H-hey Hana-san." He said, trying to be as cool as possible. _What's going on? Something seems off._ He thought.

"You look stunning." Kakashi said, "Do you two have plans tonight?" Kakashi asked,

"Y-yes." Hana responded. Shisui thanked the gods that he didn't reply before she did. Now it made sense. This was clearly Jio's work, and more-than-likely his attempt at some mediocre form of revenge Shisui smirked inwardly. He didn't know what Jio had said, but surely he would be somewhere nearby watching.

"Yes, so I'll be taking my leave now Kakashi-san." Shisui said standing and putting his arm out nervously for her to take. "Shall we?" Hana's face turned bright red as she wrapped her arm around his.

"Yes." The two strolled out of the bar while Shisui scanned all directions for any sign of his student, and also he was thinking of where to take Hana. Finally he saw them, two figures on the rooftop, Jio and Kenji, though he doubted Kenji had a part in this, and figured Jio just wanted to show off his work, which had failed fantastically. He smirked triumphantly in their direction and continued on. He laughed slightly as he saw Jio slap himself in the face, realizing his botch. _This night couldn't get any better._

* * *

**Hello! Firstly, to those who've made it this far, congratulations! The plot will soon be thickening! **

**Thank you to those who have followed and reviewed, and I hope you guys all enjoy this bit of character development that's happened. Next chapter, look forward to some plot development, at long last! See ya next time~!**


	5. The Snake in the Leaves

Kenji yawned widely as he stretched his arms into the air. He was exhausted. Shisui had woken him up at three in the morning claiming the Hokage had called an emergency meeting, but, as it turned out, genin would have to wait outside of the meeting hall to receive the information from their senseis.

It had been almost an hour since then, and his weariness had just started to leave him. Despite the small part of him that wished he could go back to sleep, he couldn't pretend that he wasn't a bit anxious. Nearly every ninja in the village had gone into the conference hall, and any emergency meeting called by the Hokage was serious business.

"I'm worried." Suzuna said, breaking the long silence. "I just have a bad feeling about this."

"I know what you mean." Jio said, "This is a little unnerving." Kenji kept silent. He didn't know what to say, so he just continued to pull twigs from the tree he was sitting on and drop them to the floor below. Jio was across from him sitting on a different tree's branch, while Suzuna was standing between them on the ground.

"Hey guys." Came a voice from behind. "Long time no see." Kenji didn't even turn to look. He just smirked. He would recognize his voice anywhere.

"What a pleasant surprise." Jio said smirking, "How've you been, Kotaru?" Taya Kotaru walked to stand beside Suzuna. Kenji and Jio both jumped down from their respective tree limbs to greet their friend. He smiled as he bumped Jio and Kenji's fists simultaneously. Kenji and Jio both noticed that Kotaru had a few new tattoos on his arms that he didn't before.

"It's just you?" Suzuna said, seeming slightly disappointed. Obviously she'd be hoping that his teammates Reimi and Tsukasa were with him.

"Thanks for the warm welcome." Kotaru said sarcastically." Suzuna opened her mouth to protest but Kotaru motioned for her to stop. "I'm just kidding. Reimi-san and Tsu-chan are in the ladies room. They'll be back out in a second." Suzuna's face lit up at the news. She was clearly excited that she would get to see her old friends.

"You wouldn't happen to know what's going on would you?" Kenji asked Kotaru, who shook his head in response.

"Not a damn thing." He said, "Anko-sensei woke me up and told me to meet her here as soon as possible. I wonder if she knew we'd be waiting out here. This is so uncool." Team One nodded their agreement along with mixed replies. They chatted randomly until they heard two more sets of footsteps approaching. It wasn't long before Reimi and Tsukasa appeared.

"Found you~!" Tsukasa said, with a large smile, running and embracing Suzuna. "It's so good to see you Suzuna-chan!"

"You too." Suzuna said, returning the embrace. When they released each other, Tsukasa waved to Jio and Kenji.

"Hi guys~" She said. They both returned her greeting.

"Hey guys." Reimi said, high-fiving Jio and Kenji before hugging Suzuna. Once all of their greetings were complete, the six genin formed a circle and began chatting.

"Reimi-san," Jio said, "Is there a chance you overheard anything from Hokage-sama?" She shook her head.

"Sorry," She said shaking her head, "I didn't hear a thing." The genin of Team One sighed.

"That's too bad." Kenji said, "I'd really like to have a clue what's going on in there." The six genin continued catching up, waiting for their senseis to emerge and tell them what was going on. They sat around for what felt like hours, inventing games involving their ninja tools, and talking about memories from their academy days.

After what was seemingly an eternity, they heard the hall doors opening, and they all rushed to the entrance. Shisui was amongst the first out. He approached the genin with a purple-haired woman at his side, he was also carrying a fair-sized box.

"Sorry to make you wait so long." He said, "It seems a bit of a situation has developed. It's nothing too major, but it does require all shinobi to be on guard at all times."

"As such," The purple-haired woman, finished, "the chunin instructors from the academy will be put on watch around Konoha, and you genin will be watching the academy students until this thing is dealt with."

"WHAT!?" Jio blurted out, "What the hell are we supposed to do with academy students, arts and crafts!?"

"Jio, it wasn't even that long ago we were academy students." Suzuna said.

"That's what Hokage-sama feels is best." Shisui said, "You should be honored that he trusts you to watch the academy. It's not a grunt task. Anko-san and I gave the Hokage our word that you were ready."

"You're to report to the academy today at the start of classes." Anko said as she handed Kotaru a piece of paper and Shisui set the box on the ground. "All of your assignments are on that sheet. Good luck."

"Also, so the students will know to give you respect, each of you will be given your own chunin vest, but understand, by no means are you to abuse its power and we're expecting the utmost maturity from each of you, as of today, and until this situation is contained, you're considered leaders, so do your best." Shisui said, before him and Anko both vanished from sight.

"Well I guess we'll see you guys around. It does still bug me that they haven't told us what's going on" Kotaru said, cutting the paper into its six parts with a kunai. "There we go." He handed each person their assignment before turning to leave. "I'm gonna go ahead and head over to the academy now." He said, grabbing his vest. "I'll see you guys at lunch." They nodded, grabbed their vests, and went their separate ways.

Kenji looked to the sky and saw that the sun was already rising. He'd been so lost in thought that he hadn't even noticed. He checked his watch and saw that it was already seven fifteen. Meaning the academy classes would be starting in less than an hour.

_There's no time for a nap. _He thought to himself, _I guess I'll grab something light for breakfast._ He started towards the academy and stopped at a small convenience store and bought a pre-made onigiri before continuing on his way. He strolled at a laid-back pace, not wanting to get to the academy too early, occasionally taking a bite of his onigiri.

He saw his own reflection in the mirror and had to stop to admire it. He thought he looked damn good in that chunin vest. He couldn't help but feel super cool.

Continuing on his way, he crossed paths with several academy students, many of whom saw the vest, and looked at Ainami's sheath in awe. He smiled to himself. He was actually fairly excited to be at the academy. He figured he may even run into Naruto there.

When he finally arrived, it was just a few minutes before the first bell would ring. _Perfect timing._ He headed in to his assigned classroom and saw Jio in the hall. Jio saw him approaching and turned towards him.

"I really don't want to do this." He said, hunching his shoulders over. Kenji just laughed and gave him a slap on the back.

"It'll be fun. Just enjoy yourself." He continued down the hall to where his class was. The bell had just rang and the students were slowly filing out of the halls and into their classrooms. When he arrived at his assigned class, he took a deep breath before walking in.

The chatter that was spreading through the students ceased suddenly as he entered. All of the eyes in the room were on him, yet somehow he felt surprisingly calm.

"Good morning." He said, "I'll be filling in for your sensei for a while. You can call me Kenji-senpai." He surveyed the room one last time and gasped silently. It was just then that he noticed, sitting in the middle section of the classroom, was none other than Sakura. His heart pace increased rapidly but he thought he did a pretty good job of keeping calm.

Nearly everyone in the class was blurting out questions now, so he hoped that he could distract himself from staring by answering a few questions.

"Calm down, calm down." He said coolly, and the class slowly quieted. "I'll answer all of your questions that I'm able in due time. You go first." He pointed to a random student.

"Why are all of our senseis gone?" The boy asked.

"There assistance is needed by Hokage-sama." He replied, and pointed to another student for questioning.

"Are we in danger?"

"Of course not!" He replied quickly, "That's why I'm here." He smiled widely, and to his surprise, many of the students in the class were looking on at him in admiration, most of whom were girls.

"And what exactly qualifies you to protect this class?" One of the boys asked, and the room grew silent. He had jet black hair, and Kenji felt as if his presence was somehow familiar.

"I've been personally assigned here by Hokage-sama himself." Kenji replied, deciding that stretching the truth was probably his best option here to keep everyone calm. He felt as if a fresh wave of awe wiped over the room.

"You expect us to believe that just because you say so?" The boy asked. He was getting to be a real pain in the ass. Before Kenji could reply, however, the doors burst open and a boy began speaking loudly.

"I'm so sorry I'm late Iruka-sensei!" he said. Kenji turned a questioning glance on the newcomer, and was shocked to find that it was none other than Naruto.

"Naruto!?" He said, shocked. Naruto look up confused, but smiled widely upon seeing Kenji.

"Kenji!" He said with a large smile, "It's great to see ya buddy! I thought for sure I was gonna get in trouble. Wait a sec…You're a chunin!?" Kenji smirked at the young man.

"I'll let your tardy slide this time." Kenji said, "Please take your seat." Naruto nodded and went to his seat, which was near the back. "Anyways, go ahead and study your tactics textbook wherever you left off. Tomorrow you'll have a quiz." Many of the class members sighed and let out various sounds of discontent as they opened their books and started studying.

Kenji sat down at the teacher's desk and leaned back in the chair. The window was creaked slightly and there was a nice breeze blowing right past him. He heard a scuffle of sorts coming from outside and saw Jio was evading the oncoming attacks from an academy student out on the track.

He gasped in disbelief as he jumped up to see that Jio had one of Shisui's bells tied to his waste. Jio sidestepped the boy's kick attempt and grabbed his foot. He flipped the young ninja into the air and he fell on his back.

"Who wants to try next?" Jio said, smiling. He looked like he was having fun. He looked back over his class to see that a few of the students, including the dark-haired boy who questioned him before were watching Jio's antics.

He couldn't help himself, and before long he spoke. "This is boring." He said, and most of the students raised their heads in anticipation. "Let's go have some fun." Kenji jumped out the window and ran to stand beside Jio.

"Couldn't resist me in this sexy vest?" Jio said as the two bumped fists.

"You know it." Kenji said with a laugh.

"Rule change." Jio said, "Two of you," He motioned towards all the students, including Kenji's class who had followed him out. "Are gonna try to get the bell from the two of us. Any volunteers?"

"Me." The raven-haired boy from Kenji's class walked forward.

"Me too." Naruto said, also taking a few steps forward. Jio noticed that Kotaru and his class had also left their classroom and were moving towards the bleachers at the end of the field.

"Ok then." Kenji said, crouching down and stretching his legs out. "Everyone else go sit on the bleachers near Kotaru-san." Before long the field was clear of everyone except for the four of them.

"Before we start, introductions are in order." Kenji said, "As you guys know, I'm Kenji. This is my friend Jio-senpai." Jio waved his hand slightly. Kenji scoffed as some of the young girls began to blush when Jio's eyes flashed in their direction.

"Uchiha Sasuke." The dark-haired boy said. _Uchiha!? _Kenji thought, _This kid must be Shisui-sensei's cousin!_

"I'm Namikaze Naruto!" Naruto said buoyantly, "I'm this village's next Hokage!" Kenji smirked. He had no idea what Naruto was capable of, but he was interested to find out.

"Let's do this, Naruto." Sasuke said with a confident smirk. Naruto was smiling widely and nodded.

"Yeah." He said, taking on a battle pose. "I won't go easy on you Kenji."

"Good thing cause you won't be getting a bell if you do."

"You talk too much." Jio said sighing.

"Together!" Sasuke yelled as he charged towards Jio, with Naruto close behind. They were surprisingly quick. They both took quick, jagged turns in opposite directions and approached Jio from both sides before quickly charging in again. He jumped back with perfect timing, expecting them to run directly into each other, but they deftly stopped and redirected themselves right at him. _No way!_ He thought.

Just then Sasuke was tripped by Kenji, who had approached him from his blind spot on the side. Sasuke, however, managed to bend backwards, catch himself with his hands and flip back to a standing position. Naruto stopped and jumped back beside Sasuke.

"I see." He said to Naruto, "While we focus solely on the bell, the other one will blindside us and disrupt our formation."

"As expected," Naruto said chuckling slightly. "Let's try it one more time. You go for the bell, and I'll watch Kenji-senpai." Sasuke nodded and the two charged for Jio, again from different sides. Whilst approaching, Naruto made sure to keep a close eye on Kenji, who wasn't moving towards them at all, much to the academy student's surprise.

As Sasuke closed in on Jio, he jumped back, and Naruto jumped towards him quickly. Naruto spun in the air, aiming a kick at Jio's mid-section which he blocked with his forearm. Sasuke was rushing in too, and just as he reached out for the bell, Jio grabbed it with his other hand and threw it skillfully to Kenji.

Sasuke gasped. He hadn't even thought about that possibility. "This may be a bit tougher than I thought." He said, and Naruto nodded.

"I didn't even consider that he'd toss it to Kenji-senpai." Naruto said slightly flustered. "But I'm not giving up that easily!" Sasuke smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, we can do this." He said, "Let's go!"

* * *

Suzuna didn't have all of the details, but her mission was to patrol the area surrounding the academy, and alert her fellow genin if she should find anything suspicious. She looked around anxiously. She could have sworn she heard footsteps from behind her mere seconds before, yet now no one was to be seen.

She was roaming slowly through the forest at the foot of the Hokage Mountain, which was directly behind the academy. She heard an even louder sound from somewhere around her and turned quickly towards the source, again to find nothing.

_What's going on here!?_ She thought. She had drawn two kunai and was moving slowly in a defensive position. She heard a low growl of sorts and turned, finding nothing for a third time. Her heartbeat was starting to increase from anxiety, but she managed to get a hold of herself. _Stay calm Suzuna!_ She told herself.

She heard more footsteps from behind, this time running straight towards her. Clearly her attacker was done with mind games. She turned, and what she saw shocked her.

What was approaching her was a very large hulking beast of sorts. It looked feral like a canine, but stood on two legs as if humanoid. She mentally slapped herself and dodged to the side quickly, as the creature's sharp claws swiped where she was standing a second earlier. The creature had slimy saliva dripping out the sides of its mouth, almost as if it were drooling for a meal.

She threw both kunai but it ducked beneath sharp claws as the beast came for her again. She jumped back trying to gain distance, but not fast enough, the beast's claws scraped across her stomach, leaving four wounds on her abdomen. She let out a gasp of pain as she fell, hunched over on the ground. _Dammit. _She thought. _I have to do something…_

Despite her best efforts to get her body to move, she was still in shock. She was shaking excessively, and her body wasn't moving as she willed it to. _This is bad._ Every small movement sent a surge of pain through her open wounds. The beast lunged for her and every ounce of her being fought against moving to safety.

Luckily, she managed to roll away just as the beast claws came crashing down to the floor. At the cost of extreme agony Suzuna moved further away trying to apply pressure to her wound as best she could. Her blood continued to steadily flow. She knew she didn't have another dodge left in her. The beast was already running towards her. A million thoughts raced through her head, all she could do was delay as long as possible, and hope for some assistance.

She quickly formed a chain of seals and prepared to unleash an attack. _**Suiton: Mizuame Nabara no Jutsu!**_ _**(Water Style: Syrup Trap)**_She shot a small stream of the syrup water at the monster's face, and luckily it made contact. The beast stopped in its tracks and groaned as it frantically tried to claw the syrup off. _I'm too weak to even yell for help._

The canine had opened its eyes yet again, and appeared to be very unhappy. She almost thought she heard footsteps approaching rapidly. _Could I be so lucky?_ She thought. _But who could've heard? This whole affair has been so quite._ As the beast advanced upon her she thought maybe her blood loss was causing hallucination. _That's probably it._

However, in an instant, in between the monster and Suzuna, a figure had appeared.

"**Kaiten! (Revolving Heaven)**" Chakra swirled around her defender and threw the beast back with a heavy force. _Neji-san._ She thought. Everything was beginning to blur, but she knew without a doubt this could be no one other than Hyuga Neji. "Looks like I made it." He said.

"Suzuna-chan," Tsukasa said, dropping down from a tree above. "Are you okay?"

"What took you so long?" She said weakly through deep breaths.

"Tsukasa-san," Neji said, "Take Suzuna-san to the hospital immediately. I can handle this." Tsukasa opened her mouth to protest but Neji spoke first. "Her life may be in danger! Don't argue, go!" Tsukasa bit her lip as she wrapped one of Suzuna's arms around her and helped her to her feet.

"Don't do anything stupid." She said, jumping away with Suzuna in tow. Neji crouched down, and took on the stance for the Jyuken; his clan's unique fighting style. The monster growled and lunged at him with ferocious speed. It swung its claws toward him, but he brought up his arm to counter and with his other attacked the chakra point in the beast's arm.

It wailed in pain before it unleashed a sweeping kick, which Neji jumped to avoid. The creature bought its massive arm down swiftly. He brought both arms up to block. The sheer force of the blow left his forearms searing. _What the hell is this thing?_

He gathered the chakra around him and spun around into another kaiten, which sent the beast flying. He sprinted as fast as his legs would carry him. He knew he needed to end it soon or he risked having the beast over power him. He, amazingly, managed to catch up to the monster while it was still in the air. He gathered up all the chakra he could spare into his right palm, and waited for directly the right moment.

As soon as the feral creature touched the ground, he brought his fist heavily down, right in the center of its stomach. "**Shotei! (Palm Strike)**" The power behind the attack caused dust to fly from all angles. He was breathing heavily, but was thankful that his attack had done the trick. He deactivated his byakugan and looked upon the beast. He'd never seen anything like it.

_I should report this to the Hokage's receptionist. _He thought as he turned to leave, just as Kotaru arrived.

Kotaru surveyed the scene and turned to Neji. "Are you okay?" He asked.

"Of course." Neji replied blatantly. "If I couldn't have handled it what help could you have hoped to accomplish?" Kotaru grimaced.

"You always were a cocky bastard." He said with a smirk. "I guess since I'm not needed here I'll head back to the academy. I assume you're going to report this to someone." He jumped off without another word. _Seriously…_ Neji thought, looking once more back to the body. _What on earth is going on?_

* * *

"I'm glad you're all here." The Hokage said. Shisui, Kakashi, and Might Guy were all gathered around the Hokage's desk. "I called you three here because I know I can trust you, and what I'm about to say is a bit heavy." Shisui raised an eyebrow, but didn't speak, instead waiting for the Hokage to finish. "I fear these kaiju* are a product of Orochimaru's presence in the village." All three jounin gasped. "I know I've no tangible evidence, but combining the traits of the Inuzuka ninken* and humans is something I believe only Orochimaru could do."

"So what you're implying is, a spy? Right?" Shisui asked quietly. If Orochimaru truly was responsible for this, nobody knew where he could have ears. The Hokage nodded solemnly.

"I'm informing you three so you know to keep an eye out for anything suspicious. Speak to no one else of this, keep it between us please." The three jounin nodded. "That's it for now. I'll send you a summons if I get any new information." Kakashi and Guy walked out of the office but Shisui stayed behind.

"Hokage-sama," He said, "I take it you heard about what happened to my student earlier?

"Yes." He replied, "I heard she'll be fine in a day or so."

"Yeah," Shisui shrugged, "I'm sure now that she knows what she's up against she'll do better, but that's not exactly the point." The Hokage lifted an eyebrow curiously. "I stopped by and checked out the kaiju's autopsy like you told me to. Bad news I'm afraid."

"I figured as much."

"That one was just a baby." Shisui said seriously, "I hate to imagine a full grown version."

"Dammit. I never get a break." He hung his head and sighed. "Thank you, Shisui."

"No problem Hokage-sama." He said as he started towards the door. "See ya around."

"Geez, you don't have to call me Hokage-sama all the time." He chuckled, "We're friends. Just Minato is fine."

* * *

**And at long last, the first major arc of the story, the Kaiju Arc begins! If anyone caught on to the fact that Minato was still alive and kicking, props to you. Only one hint was dropped and if you caught it, congratulations. Also, if anyone was wondering why Naruto seemed to be pretty badass, that's why.**

**Lastly, we here at Team Valisari sincerely hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!**

**Terminology:**

**Kaiju* - A strange creature/humanoid monster.**

**Ninken* - Ninja dogs. Like the pack Kakashi summons or Akamaru.**

**Thanks guys, please rate and review~!**


	6. Retribution

This evening, outwardly, the village of Konoha seemed relatively normal. Merchants went about to and fro conducting their business, eagerly preparing to close shop and return to their families. However, peaceful life was for a villager, being a ninja didn't always offer the same leisure.

Ninja walked the streets, tense eyes darting back and forth, anxiously watching and waiting for this unseen menace, while also trying to keep their appearances calm so as not to stir panic. By now everyone had heard of the injury to young Senju Suzuna, though most were unaware as to the nature. To say that the ninja were distraught would be an understatement, but none so much as the members of her squad.

An array of leaves fell to the ground as Jio hit the tree for what felt like the thousandth time. He pulled his now blood stained hand away and cursed to himself. _I can't believe I wasn't there to help her… I haven't grown at all. I'm still just a kid, what the hell was I doing when she was fighting for her life!? _The incident had really taken its toll on the young man, and this evening, he just needed some space. A sound from the bushes caught his attention and he turned, kunai drawn, preparing himself for the possibility of an attack. He sighed as he saw only Kotaru emerge from the brush.

"You can put it away now." Kotaru said waving his hands in mock surrender. He walked over to Jio and leaned back on the tree Jio had been assaulting. Kotaru was always kind of a mystery in their class. It wasn't like he was stupid or weak or anything, just that he had never really stood out, at least, not until the final grades came back, placing him at third overall.

"What brings you out here?" Jio asked not making eye contact. Jio took in a deep breath and didn't bother making eye contact as he spoke.

"It wasn't anyone's fault." Kotaru said, "You know that right?" Even though Jio knew that, in his own heart he was still taken aback. _Did he really come all the way out here just to console me?_

"You were watching after the students like you were supposed to, so don't beat yourself up." He walked over to Jio and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Everyone saw you and Suzuna in the academy. The two of you were always so close; I think you guys made a lot of people jealous." Kotaru smirked.

"Where are you going with this?" Jio asked, confusion evident on his face.

"I'm just saying don't think you're the only one who cares about Suzuna." His eyes grew dangerously serious. Jio thought for a moment and then caught on, giving Kotaru a nod of understanding. _Didn't see that one coming_. Kotaru used this window and proceeded to walk away. "Vent however you feel is best for you, but Jio, if you go out and look for revenge yo-"

"Cut it out already Kotaru, I'm not stupid enough to go on some revenge trip." Jio scoffed. Kotaru eyed Jio warily, looking for something that Jio couldn't discern.

"I hope. I know you better than you think Jio. When you change your mind and seek your revenge, I might not forgive you if you leave me behind." Kotaru turned and started walking away. _Wow you think you know a guy. He's pretty scary._

"Hey Kotaru," Jio waited for his comrade to turn his direction before speaking. "If we were to do this and I'm stressing the **if**…did you have anything in mind?" Jio almost shivered upon seeing the devious grin that plastered Kotaru's face.

"Meet me here at 0100, we're going hunting." He said as he walked away. Jio stood perplexed but he couldn't help the smirk that appeared on his face. _Should be fun._

* * *

Kenji swiped furiously at the falling leaves around him. Though he'd only thrown ten leaves in the air, at least a hundred pieces now scattered the floor around him. He was breathing heavily, unable to calm himself. His heart was beating fast and he was sweating, though not from exertion. He couldn't contain his anger. He'd come to the third training ground because he didn't want to be around anybody, not while he was like this.

He looked down at his blade to see it was glowing slightly in its usual purple hue. It seemed to always be glowing when he was holding it now. Was his chakra beginning to overflow even further? He tried not to think about it. He had too many other important issues.

He heard an annoying buzz approaching his ear and swiped Ainami furiously, silencing the annoying creature in an instant. After hours out, his heartbeat was finally beginning to gain regularity. The cool Konoha breeze was brushing across his face refreshingly, helping him compose himself. _Suzuna-chan._ He thought to himself. Luckily, he prevented himself from becoming any angrier. _I should go check on her._

He sheathed his sword on his back and walked briskly into town. It didn't seem long before he was turning onto the hospital street. He was surprised to see, from the opposite end of the street Sakura was approaching him. He gulped slightly but didn't slow his pace. She was carrying a good-sized bouquet of flowers. She waved to him and smiled.

"Good evening Kenji-senpai." She said with a slight bow, which he returned.

"To you as well Sakura-san." He said.

"Kenji-senpai," She said hesitantly "about your teammate, I'm sorry." He forced a smile and nodded.

"Thank you," He said, "but if you'll excuse me, I'm going to check in on her now." He bowed again.

"I'm actually here to give her these flowers." Sakura said smiling, "We can walk together." Kenji nodded and they walked into the hospital together. Most of the walk was fairly silent aside from Sakura's casual small talk, to which he smiled and nodded. He wasn't much in the mood for talking himself, but listening to her made him feel a bit better, and strangely, he felt like she knew that.

When they arrived in the wing where Suzuna's room was, he was greeted by an unpleasant sight. Nurses were rushing into her room hysterically, and he heard an erratic beeping. He gasped and quickly approached. There was a shinobi standing outside her door who looked just as disgruntled as Kenji.

"What's going on!?" He asked frantically, looking at the man.

"I don't know." He replied, "Her heart rate just suddenly sped up. Some sort of lingering poison from whatever did this to her." _Posion!? _He thought. _Shit, shit, shit, shit._ He couldn't keep himself calm. His breathing became highly erratic.

"She'll be okay though, right!?" He asked the man, but got no response. "Right!?"

"Kenji-san calm down." Sakura put a condoling hand on his back. "Everything will be alright."

* * *

Jio walked quickly through the dark streets of Konoha, trying his best to avoid being noticed. To sneak around with the level of alert as it was would only make him stand out more. He crossed through an empty park and saw the training ground he was supposed to meet Kotaru at. Walking into the training grounds, Jio noticed that it did seem unnaturally quiet this night, though he didn't usually walk around this late in the first place, so he really didn't know.

His mind was somewhat hazy as he tried to determine exactly what they expected to do. Even though Hyuga Neji had killed the beast earlier that day, the alert level hadn't been lowered, and nobody really seemed at peace. This lead the young ninja to suspect that the Hokage believed that there was still something going on.

Kotaru had clearly noticed this as well, and also thought of some other things Jio hadn't, for he was sharp. Jio walked on a bit further when he noticed two dark figures standing in the moonlight. Without making a sound he dashed behind a nearby tree and listened in closely trying to figure out who it was. _Could it be Kotaru? He didn't mention bringing anyone else along_. He pulled a kunai from his pouch and steadily inched closer to the two shadows. Both wore dark clothes this night, much like Jio himself, and with their backs turned away from him he couldn't quite make out any noticeable features. One of them darted their head to the side quickly as if something had caught their attention. Jio pushed back behind the tree. He didn't want to get caught now, when he'd already gotten this far.

"Jio, come on out. It's us." The voice was clearly Kotaru's, and Jio recognized it immediately. He sighed as he emerged from his hiding spot and walked over to the other two. Kotaru walked over to greet him, but the other figure had yet to turn and show themself.

"You didn't mention you were bringing anyone else along." Jio said crossing his arms in a frustrated manner. "I thought you were patrols…or worse." Kotaru chuckled as he patted Jio on the back.

"Sorry my friend I should've mentioned it to you earlier."

"Mentioned what?" Jio said. Kotaru grinned in response.

"I'm putting together the ultimate three man team for this venture. I was looking through the info library and I put together the best tag team with the three of us." Kotaru said motioning over to the other person.

"So is it Reimi-san, or Tsukasa-san?" Jio asked, trying to determine who the third party was. The other person seemed to take this as his cue and turned to face Jio eye to eye. _You have got to be kidding me! _Jio stood, eyes locked with none other than Hyuga Neji. Kotaru stood in between the two nodding at his own cleverness. The funny thing was Neji seemed just as surprised as Jio himself was. Had Kotaru withheld information from the both of them?

"The three of us huh?" Jio said relaxing his arms. "I guess this a good set, but what makes you so sure?" Neji didn't say anything but the way he eyed Kotaru suggested that he had the same question on his mind. Kotaru took this time to step back from the two and began his monologue.

"Here's my basis. Neji-san, you're a close range fighter and the best of our class. That and your kekkei genkai is said to be the strongest in our village." Both Jio and Neji scoffed, but for different reasons. "And Jio, according to the cards, you have a close-to-mid-range fighting style, not to mention you ranked second when it came to ninja tool and weapon usage. Then finally there's me, my ability, though you've never seen it, is mid-to-long distance mostly, and what you've both already noticed is that we were the three highest ranked in our class."

"Seems logical enough." Neji said.

"I guess." Jio agreed shrugging, "I trust your judgment Kotaru." Kotaru smiled and nodded.

"Glad to hear it." He said, "Now let's do this thing."

* * *

Sato Kenpachi observed the amazing display before him in pure awe. He couldn't believe his eyes. This creature before him was truly monstrous. It had a vaguely human-like shape to it, but its skin was thick and armor-like, providing it much extra protection, and it had four large wings on its back which were not at all decorative. Its eyes were abnormally large, and its physical strength was unbelievable.

That wasn't the scariest part though, the creature, like a shinobi, had used ninjutsu. Had he not known better he would daresay he could not determine if it were man or beast. Human blood dripped down its shiny chin as it steadily approached Kenpachi.

"Master," It said, in a low, strong voice. "What is insect?" The creature somehow appeared introspective. "Those humans kept yelling it."

"It's just what they associate you with." Kenpachi replied, patting his creation on the back. "Don't worry about them."

"I'd like to be named." It said, "Just as you are named, Master." Kenpachi contemplated the request. He knew he would need to distinguish between the intelligent ones, he just hadn't expected to be asked.

"Very well." He said, "Then…Tonbu."

"Thank you, Master." It said, bowing.

"Now finish the job." He said, pointing back to the screaming villagers fleeing.

"Yes Master." At speeds too fast for Kenpachi to follow, Tonbu flew off. In seconds he heard agonizing screams of pain. _He's excellent._ Kenpachi thought to himself, ignoring the cries from the voices of children. _At this rate…he'll be done soon. Very soon…_

* * *

**There it is! Hope you guys enjoyed, and thank you so much to everyone who read, made the story one of their favorites, and reviewed so far! It means a lot. And for those of you who haven't reviewed but are reading, please review! We love to hear what you guys think of the story!**

**One more time, from all of us here at TeamValisari, thanks for reading, and hope you enjoyed!**

**Thanks again, and please review!**


	7. Revelations

Many thoughts went through Shisui's head as he approached the small village of Funakoshi. He didn't know exactly what to expect, so he took a deep breath as he climbed the last hill before the village was in sight. He closed his eyes as he neared the top, pausing a moment before opening them, praying to the gods nothing had happened.

One of the ramen shops in town had reported that they were expecting a shipment of noodles from Funakoshi that had never arrived, and no message of delays had been sent either. It was bad news, Shisui feared. Trade carts and even citizens of the smaller unprotected villages all across the Fire County had been disappearing. Was it a coincidence that this had started happening in the same time period as the kaiju appearing?

Shisui couldn't say for sure, but he was determined to find out. What he saw below in Funakoshi was daunting. Not a single person was moving through the streets. From what he could see it appeared to be a ghost town. It was eerily quiet as well. He approached with caution, making sure to focus on his surroundings completely, especially his hearing. Often times it was what you couldn't see that would undo you.

He unsheathed his katana from its scabbard and walked slowly, ready to counterattack at any second. He reached the streets of the town without hearing so much as a scuffle, but he could now see that there were clear signs of a struggle. Carts had been shattered and split into pieces, and there were holes through walls and many other things. The most disturbing sight was the many bloodstains splattered around the town.

_Is whoever- no…whatever did this still around?_ Just then he noticed, amongst the midst of bloody shoeprints, there was one very unique set. It didn't look anything like a human's shoeprints would, for it was much larger. Surprisingly to him, it didn't appear to match the one of the kaiju body they were studying. He didn't know what to make of it, but he knew it wasn't good.

He continued looking through the wrecked town for anything of interest, and to his surprise, he found it. What he saw though, shocked him. It was a large shedding, not dissimilar to that of a snake, yet it was larger, and not at all cylindrical. He approached it with caution and found it was indeed empty. It had the space to fit almost two grown men inside of it. _This doesn't look good._

"What do you think?" Shisui turned quickly towards the voice. He was amazed at what he saw. On one of the rooftops, was a hulking figure. It had arms and legs like a man, but was covered with dark black scales, with the exception of a few yellow diamond-like patterns. Its head was very snake-like, and it even had a tail. "My new skin is beautiful isn't it?" It hissed.

"You killed the villagers." Shisui said blatantly, to which the creature just smiled cynically. _It's talking!? The report didn't indicate the kaiju possessed this kind of intelligence._ Though his mind was racing, his demeanor remained cool and calm.

"I did indeed." It replied, "Though not at my own behest." _As expected. This thing must be a creation of Orochimaru._ Shisui thought.

"Then at who's?" He asked, hoping to have his suspicions confirmed from the beast's mouth.

"That's of no concern to you."

"Then I've no further use of you." Shisui said, taking on a battle stance and activating his sharingan. "I, Uchiha Shisui, will kill you." Upon hearing this, the monster's eyes widened.

"Uchiha Shisui?" It said. "This is excellent!" He began gyrating excitedly and shouting. "If I defeat you the Master will be most pleased!"

"Oh, so you've heard of me?" Shisui asked coolly, "I'm afraid I can't say the same."

"Mamba." He introduced himself. "I'm pleasured to make your acquaintance!" He jumped at Shisui with frightening speed. He aimed a swipe of his claws for Shisui but he blocked the attack with his sword. He was surprised to find his sword wouldn't cut through Mamba's claws. They were more durable than he'd anticipated.

He lifted a leg and shot a powerful kick at Mamba's stomach which pushed him back a few feet. He'd expected that to be blocked, so he was a surprised that he made contact, though he didn't show it. _He seems to be lacking in experience._ Before Mamba could recover he charged in with his sword and side-swiped at his scaly stomach.

With lightning fast reflexes, the kaiju blocked the sword with his claws. Shisui aimed a kick at his other side, but Mamba blocked it with his free arm, deftly extending his long leg to kick Shisui in the stomach, sending him flying back.

He flew several yards before landing on the ground and rolling. _The same counter that I used…he's learning._ Before he could fully regain composure Mamba was upon him. _He's fast!_ As he aimed a quick jab at Shisui's center, he found that his fist didn't connect with anything.

Shisui, now a few feet away was in awe. _His speed is comparable to that of an average jounin. I wasn't expecting that._ As if his morning hadn't been stuffed full of enough surprises, Mamba, performed a chain of handseals so fast that, without his sharingan, Shisui wouldn't have been able to keep up.

_**Dokugiri no Jutsu! (Poison Mist Technique)**_ It belted out a large purple cloud towards Shisui. Shisui quickly Flicked to the nearest rooftop before Flickering again to another out of range of the poisonous gas. _He can use ninjutsu…this is bad. How many more like him are there?_ Mamba was quickly approaching now, dashing towards him for another attack. He opened his mouth in the air and barred his fangs at Shisui. He bit down roughly, but Shisui maneuvered away from the attack preparing to counter. It was then that he felt his leg being pulled and immediately knew what had happened. _I was too careless._

With a smirk, Mamba used his powerful tail to toss the shinobi into the roof below with tremendous force. Appearing satisfied, the creature looked to where the shinobi had fallen and found him nowhere in sight. Mamba stretched out his split tongue and tasted the air, as snakes do, and quickly realized Shisui was in an alley behind him. He jumped down and faced Shisui, grinning maniacally.

"You're smelling me out huh?" Shisui said, "Neat trick." He formed a string of handseals as fast as he could. _**Messhu Enro no Jutsu~! (Vanishing Smoke Prison)**_ Shisui blew out a large cloud of smoke that filled the alley, completely blinding the both of them. _This should conceal me just long enough._ He quickly Flicked back several yards as he formed another set of handseals. _**Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu (Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu)**_He shot a large fireball from his mouth straight down the alley. There was no room to dodge. He'd have to jump over it, which unsurprisingly, he did.

Mamba jumped high into the air, easily avoiding the fireball. Shisui flicked beside him so fast Mamba had little time to react. He swiped his claw out, just barely grazing the leaf-nin's forearm before the sword deftly and powerfully, decapitated the snake kaiju. His head and body fell onto a roof below lifelessly. Shisui landed nearby and sheathed his sword.

"The flame of your life has flickered out."

* * *

The sun had already risen, but Jio, Kotaru and Neji hadn't found anything to go on. Jio was getting more and more frustrated as time went by, and by now someone would likely be looking for them. He just wanted to beat the shit out of something or someone, and he was highly considering trying his luck at Neji. The condescending bastard got more and more infuriating with time. He kicked a boulder at full strength, ignoring the shot of pain that went through his foot.

"Dammit." He said, "We're not getting anywhere."

"Neji-san, do a scan of the area please." Kotaru said. Neji remained silent, but nevertheless, activated his bloodline limit, the byakugan. He was silent for a few moments before speaking.

"There's a Konoha shinobi not far from here." He said, "He appears injured."

"Let's go." Kotaru said, and they took off quickly, following Neji's lead. It wasn't too long before they arrived at a paved dirt road and found the hunched over shinobi. Jio gasped.

"Shisui-sensei!" He burst over as quickly as he could. "What's wrong!?" Shisui was gasping as if he had over exerted himself and he looked exhausted, as if he was struggling to stay lucid.

"Jio, thank kami." He said with a very slight laugh. "Poison. I'm…coun-….-ting on you." He faded into unconsciousness. Jio drew a kunai and cut a slit in Shisui's arm and put a hole on his own hand before forming a quick set of handseals.

_**Chishio Moreru no Jutsu (Blood Extraction Technique)**_Jio placed his hand over the cut on Shisui's arm and closed his eyes to concentrate. He traced his blood all throughout Shisui's body, picking up the slight amounts of poison he detected as he went along. Luckily, it didn't seem too far spread, and he thought he had the vast majority of it. He slowly pulled the blood back towards the opening and extracted it.

It looked as if black ooze was dripping out of Shisui's arm, and there was a decent amount of it. Kotaru and Neji both seemed rather amazed. Jio realized he'd been holding his breath. He exhaled graciously. "I'm glad that went smoothly." He said, panting slightly.

"Jio," Kotaru said, "you know medical ninjutsu?" Jio laughed in response and shook his head.

"I'm not patient enough to learn medical ninjutsu," He said, "but when it comes to matters of the blood, the Darake are unmatched."

"The real mystery here is finding out what did this." Neji said, reactivating his byakugan to search the area.

"Agreed." Kotaru said, "There's a village not far from here called Funakoshi. When Shisui-sama awakes we should go." Neji nodded his response.

"Go ahead without me." Jio said, waving them off. "I'll stay here with Shisui-sensei."

"Are you sure you'll be alright by yourself?" Kotaru asked,

"Yeah I'll be fine." Jio said, "Shisui-sensei should be awake shortly." The two nodded and continued on their way. Jio cleaned Shisui's wound as best he could before wrapping the wound. _That poison wasn't plant-based._ He thought to himself. _It was definitely inflicted by another shinobi, or maybe an animal, but I doubt Shisui-sensei would be carelessly bitten by a snake. Not to mention it would take at least ten snakes for that amount._

Jio pulled a small canister out his pouch and carefully scooped a fair amount of poison into it before sealing the canister and placing it back in his pouch.

"Well done." Jio turned his head and saw Shisui was propping himself against a nearby tree. "I had no idea that your ability to filter blood was so advanced already." Shisui, now standing with his own strength, walked over to Jio and placed an arm on the young genin's shoulder. "Looks like I owe you one."

"Sensei it wasn't that big of a deal." Jio said, shrugging, turning his head to conceal the slight blush on his cheeks.

"Still, thanks." Shisui asked before his gaze grew stern. "Now, tell me what you're doing out here, and don't you dare try and tell me you were sent here, because we both know damn well that that isn't true." Jio lowered his head in defeat before admitting the truth.

"We came for revenge."

"For Suzuna…I see. Man, you children can be a bother." Shisui said, smacking his hand across his face. "But forget that, where are those others who were with you? We need to get back to Konoha."

"They went to check out for Funakoshi Village."

"They won't find anything." Shisui said trailing off. "Everyone's already dead." Jio couldn't keep the shock from showing on his face.

"A whole village dead? How is that possible!?" He asked in shock.

"The one who poisoned me" Shisui said referring to his arm. "is the one who did it, but he's already been taken care of, so let's go find your friends at get back to Konoha quickly. I need to report to the Hokage." Jio nodded in response and the two were off.

* * *

Kenji found, through the sound of nothing but pencils and groaning students, he couldn't think of much else but Suzuna's state of well-being. He sighed. He also couldn't forget that he was pissed off at Jio. He knew that Jio had gone to look for revenge, and he was angry Jio didn't ask him to come along. It was probably for the best though, as there was enough trouble finding replacement substitutes for the classes.

The students in his class were currently taking an exam assigned by their actual teacher. Kenji had found a note along with the tests on his desk that morning. The exam was thick, and was supposed to take the students all day, yet one of the students, who was now soundly sleeping the day away, had finished in just three hours.

His name, according to his test, was Shikamaru Nara. Looking over the boy's test, Kenji was quite surprised. Almost half of the questions in each section had been left blank. Most of the 'easy' questions, such as the multiple choice questions had been left blank, along with the mix-and-match questions. Kenji couldn't deny he was impressed. He'd done all the essay questions, along with the fill-in-the-blank questions, and also the questions which required you to answer with a sentence.

Undoubtedly, Shikamaru knew that those questions were worth double the points of the others, and, every single answer Kenji had checked so far was verbatim to the answer sheet. It took him a while, but when he finished, he found the boy had scored exactly sixty percent in every section, just barely passing.

_I wish I could have done stuff like this when I was a student._ He thought as he yawned widely. The final bell rang, and he jumped a bit, but luckily, no one noticed.

"Pencils down." He said, "Leave your tests on my desk on your way out. See you tomorrow." As they set them in a pile on the desk, most of them were talking to their neighbors about the difficulty of the exam. When everyone was done passing them in, Kenji evened them out and set them in the top drawer of the desk.

He walked out briskly, yawning widely as he went. He'd been up nearly all night in Suzuna's hospital room. He was completely drained. He decided it would probably be best to take a nap at his house for a few hours before heading back to the hospital to check on Suzuna.

He'd felt accomplished recently, since he was now paying his own rent with the money he was getting for missions. It was just barely enough, but he still felt good about it. He arrived at his small house shortly and shut and locked the door behind him. He closed the shutters on the windows before walking into the one room. He was so tired that he fell straight onto the bed, not even bothering to remove his sheath.

_Just a short nap._ He thought. He felt himself drifting slowly into sleep, and after what felt like just a second, he was awoken by tapping on his bedroom window. He opened the blinds to see Jio motioning for him to open the window. He moved to the upright position, unlocked the window, and slid it open.

"I've got news for you." Jio said, casually jumping in. "Big news."

"Well lay it on me." Kenji said as the two bumped fists.

"The Hokage is implementing a mandatory curfew starting at seven for all non-shinobi. Also, all academy classes will be postponed until further notice." Jio said, "The Hokage wants all the kids to say indoors as much as possible."

"What the hell happened?" Kenji asked curiously.

"Funakoshi Village was attacked." Jio said, lowering his head, "All of the villagers are dead." Kenji gasped. _All of them!?_

"No way." He said, "Who could do something like that?"

"A monster." Jio replied. Kenji was appalled. He couldn't believe the news he'd just received. He couldn't deny that he was shaking slightly, but he did his best to contain it.

"I have the sudden urge to train." Kenji said, looking at Jio expectantly. Jio grinned widely in response.

"I thought you might.

* * *

**And there you have it! The seventh chapter of Bonds of Nakama. Hope all the readers enjoyed it! Now for Shisui's battle, just in case some people did not understand the Flick. It is the Body Flicker Technique, called the Shunshin no Jutsu originally, and it is Shisui's specialty. So I decided to simply capitalize Flick/Flickered/Flicked to indicate that he is using the Shunshin technique. Also, the whole "The flame of your life has flickered out thing" is a mixed reference of the Uchiha fan and Shisui's flickering (but I bet you caught that.)**

**Anyways, thank you all for reading, and please review. More chapters coming soon!**


End file.
